VICTORY! WCW lawsuit wins videos of secretive FDA monkey tests

As first reported in an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette cover story, White Coat Waste Project recently won a federal lawsuit that reveals why the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took quick and decisive action to cancel its nicotine addiction experiments on baby monkeys after criticism from WCW.

Squirrel monkey confined at FDA’s nicotine addiction lab.

After the FDA initially refused to do so, WCW’s lawsuit has compelled the agency to release dozens of never-before-seen videos of its taxpayer-funded nicotine tests on monkeys and more than 2,000 related documents. This is a major win in our ongoing campaign for more transparency and accountability about government spending on wasteful animal experiments.

The troubling videos taken at FDA’s Arkansas facility show baby monkeys locked alone in small cages, wearing vests that contain catheters to infuse nicotine, exhibiting distressed behavior, and even being taunted by staff. Some of the videos depict the monkeys confined in dark experimental chambers and slumped over after receiving hits of nicotine.

Squirrel monkey confined in a nicotine infusion chamber at the FDA.

Additionally, documents obtained by WCW through the lawsuit detail four monkey deaths that occurred on the project since 2015 and were not properly reported. Records obtained separately by WCW detail other instances of waste and abuse at the same FDA facility, including animals killed by mishandling, unapproved procedures, and animals dying from starvation.

We applaud the FDA and commissioner Scott Gottlieb for cutting this waste and abuse and taking steps to review all of the agency’s animal experiments.

Next, tell Congress to stop the Department of Veterans Affairs from using your taxpayer dollars to fund “maximum pain” experiments on dogs. Urge your Congress members to support the bipartisan PUPPERS Act.

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